Harrier Turner’s preparations for multi challenge go well at Devon Open

Exeter Harriers’ 15 year old multi-eventer Anya Turner’s preparations for the South West Schools Combined Events Championships on 26 June are going well following the Devon Open competition at Tavistock, which once again saw the club well represented among the younger age groups. The senior men and women were both involved in their respective National League matches and representation by the younger athletes show the club is growing in strength all the time.

On a day of challenging weather and with strong headwinds for the sprinters which rendered recorded times unimportant, Turner had an easy and convincing win in the U17 80m hurdles in 12.74, and an excellent second place in the javelin with 31.40, but the highlight of her day was first place in the high jump with a new lifetime best clearance of 1.67, which places her seventh in the National Rankings. Lily Mills won the javelin with 32.20 and was second in the shot putt with 9.54, and Jessica Dobson dominated the sprints with 13.30 and 27.77 respectively for wins in the 100 and 200.

Jack Churchill also claimed a win in the U17 100 in 11.90 and Cameron Tapp won the 800 in 2:12.29 with Matt Penney taking second in the 1500 in 4:27.90. Sam Dove won the 400 hurdles in 65.00. Jack Moncur recorded two wins in the javelin with 46.36 and the shot with 9.86, and Harriers dominated the high jump with Jamie Anderson taking a convincing win with 1.70, Jack Gooding second with 1.50 and Dove third also with 1.50.

Abe Dellamuro dominated the U15 sprints in his first competition for the club with 12.61 and 25.32 respectively for the 100 and 200, and Jack Turner secured three second places in the shot with 8.18, javelin with 25.73, and a good result in the high jump with 1.55.

Isobel Pinsky returned to superb form in the U13 70m hurdles with a win in 11.84, just fractionally outside her lifetime best, and also won the high jump with a new lifetime best clearance of 1.40.

Promising multi-eventer Theodore Jackson Clist had a good day with two wins in the U13 long jump with 4.25 and the javelin with 25.21 and took second in the 100 in 14.76, missing out on a win by just three one hundredths of a second. Josh Tyler’s consistently good performances in the throws gave him wins in the U13 shot with 7.32 and hammer with 17.91 and second in the javelin with 23.47. Craig Moncur, also consistently performing well, had a battle for the line with a good win in the 800 in 2.33.30 where the top three athletes’ times were split by less than half a second, and also took second in both the long jump with a new lifetime best of 4.09 and the 150 in 22.16.

Katie Chapman took two first places in the U11 long jump and shot with 3.53 and 7.87 respectively, and Grace Flint won the high jump with 1.15. Imogen Congreve was second in the 600 in 2:12.01, Abbie Freeman took second in the long jump with 3.35 and Bella Breen also had second in the 75 sprint in 11.89.

Josh Cann won the U11 long jump with 3.56 and took second in the 600 in 1:57.94.

Sam Mills, who led the U10 Quadrathlon after the first match, is sure to be still well placed following his win in the 600 and third place in the vortex, although cumulative results are not yet available, and Saul Jackson Clist will also challenging for a top three position after winning the long jump and second in the vortex throw. Aimee Blatchford will also be well placed in the girls’ Quadrathlon which included a win in the vortex throw, and second places in long jump and 600m.